No. 8 Louisville Visits No. 17 Kentucky on Tuesday Night
March 31, 2014 | Baseball
March 31, 2014
Senior outfielder Jeff Gardner leads the Cardinals in hitting, RBI, doubles and slugging at the halfway point of the regular season.
GAME DAY INFO: #8 Louisville (21-6, 2-1 American) at #17 Kentucky (19-9, 4-5 SEC)
Date: April 1, 2014
Times: 6 p.m. ET
Location: Lexington, Ky.
Venue: Cliff Hagan Stadium (3,000)
Radio: WNDA 1570 AM
TV: Fox Sports South
Internet: CardsTV (Audio) at GoCards.com
Live Stats: Gametracker at GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLBaseball
| Tuesday, 6 p.m. ET (at Kentucky) | CardsTV: Listen | Gametracker |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 8 Louisville baseball team will travel to Lexington, Ky., for the first of two midweek matchups this season with No. 17 Kentucky on Tuesday at 6 p.m., ET at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Tuesday's meeting will mark the fifth straight between the two programs where both teams are ranked in the Top 20. It will also be the third straight time the Cardinals have been ranked in the Top 10 when facing the Wildcats.
Live play-by-play can be heard on News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA) while Fox Sports South will televise the game regionally. Live scoring will be available through the Gametracker feature at GoCards.com.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Tuesday
LOU: Fr. LHP Josh Rogers (0-0, 3.18 ERA)
UK: So. LHP Dylan Dwyer (1-1, 4.12 ERA)
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Louisville enters the week at 21-6 overall after going 4-0 last week with a midweek win at WKU and a weekend sweep of two games with Xavier and one game with Butler. The Cardinals, who returned 19 letterwinners from last year's College World Series squad, are playing their third straight midweek road game.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Kentucky enters the week at 19-9 overall after dropping two of three at Vanderbilt last weekend. The Wildcats were 30-25 last season and finished 11th in the SEC with an 11-19 league mark.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville trails 35-59-1 in the all-time series with Kentucky dating back to the first ever game in 1925. The Cardinals have won three of the last four in the series, including each of the last two in Lexington by a combined score of 24-5.
LOUISVILLE NOTES AND TRENDS
- Louisville has 78 extra-base hits through 27 games (2.88 per game) in 2014. Last season, they averaged 2.3 extra-base hits per game (153 in 65 games).
- The Cardinals have allowed two or fewer earned runs in 16 of 27 games this season, something they did in 36 of 65 games in 2013.
- Louisville is 20-0 this season when leading after the eighth inning and has won 75 straight games when entering the ninth with the lead going back to May 2012.
- The Cardinals are 17-0 this season when out-hitting their opponents and just 3-5 when being out-hit.
- Louisville is 20-0 this season when scoring five runs or more and 0-5 when scoring three or fewer.
- The Cardinals are 14-1 this season against righty starters and 7-5 against lefties.
- UofL is 0-6 when trailing after the eighth inning.
- After hitting 29 home runs in 65 games last season, Louisville has 14 home runs through 27 games this season. In 2013, they did not connect for their 14th home run until the 35th game played, while this season, the 14th came in the 24th game.
- Junior Jared Ruxer, tied for the team lead with five wins this season, is the most experienced pitcher for Louisville in 2014 with 28 career starts, 13 wins, 103 strikeouts and 155.2 total innings pitched collegiately.
- With his save on March 26, righty Nick Burdi became the Cardinals' career saves leaders with 20 surpassing the 19 by Neil Holland from 2008-10.
- Cole Sturgeon has reached base safely in all 27 games this season and 33 straight overall.
- Entering the week, Louisville leads the American in hitting (.297), slugging (.425), on-base percentage (.394), runs (220), RBI (192), doubles (53), triples (11), HBP (51) and stolen bases (63).
CARDINALS RANKED IN TOP 20 IN ALL FIVE MAJOR POLLS
After opening 2014 in the same position it ended the 2013 season with a top 10 national ranking, Louisville remains in the top 10 after seven weeks of action. Entering week eight, the Cardinals are ranked as highly as No. 8 in four different polls and they continue to be ranked in all five major polls. Prior to the season, Louisville was tabbed at No. 8 in the Collegiate Baseball newspaper preseason poll, 13th in the USA Today coaches' poll, 14th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason poll, 16th in the Perfect Game Top 25 and 20th in the Baseball America Top 25. Louisville has earned preseason top 25 rankings in seven straight seasons under the direction of head coach Dan McDonnell.
GARDNER, STURGEON CONTINUE WHERE THEY LEFT OFF IN 2013
After finishing the 2013 College World Series season as the Cardinals' top two hitters for average, senior outfielders and team captains Jeff Gardner and Cole Sturgeon have continued to pace the way for the Louisville offense in 2014. Gardner leads the team in average (.385), RBI (34), doubles (9) and slugging (.626) and ranks second in home runs (3) while starting 25 games. Sturgeon leads the team in triples (4), ranks second in runs scored (28) and doubles (7) and is third in average (.304) and stolen bases (10) while starting all 27 games in the outfield in both right and center.
RUXER RETURNS TO DOMINATE FORM EARLY IN JUNIOR SEASON
Following a disappointing sophomore season, junior righthander Jared Ruxer has returned to his freshman form early in 2014 winning five of seven starts and registering an ERA of 2.70. A Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2012 with an 8-3 mark, Ruxer was winless last season while finishing with an ERA above five. However, he's been strong this season with a 5-1 record and 36 strikeouts (including a career-high 11 against Toledo on March 1) in 40.0 innings and seven starts. He has 28 starts, 13 wins and 155.2 innings pitched in his career.
KAY SHOWS EARLY OFFENSE, VERSATILITY ON DEFENSE IN FIRST SEASON
In his first season with the Cardinals after transferring from Iowa Western Community College, junior infielder Grant Kay has shown flashes of terrific offense while proving to be very versatile defensively. In the eighth week of action, Kay is hitting .337 with three home runs, 30 RBI, seven doubles, 30 runs scored and 13 stolen bases while batting in the middle of the Louisville lineup. In addition to his work at the plate, he has eight starts at second base, eight starts at first base, two starts at third base, four starts in right field and five starts as the designated hitter while also seeing playing time in center field.
GARDNER SELECTED AS CANDIDATE FOR 2014 SENIOR CLASS AWARD®
Jeff Gardner was among 30 candidates announced on March 19 for the prestigious 2014 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate baseball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 College World Series® in June. For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
FRACTURED NOSE SIDELINES WHITING FOR SIX OF THE FIRST 11 GAMES
Junior shortstop Sutton Whiting missed six of the Cardinals' first 11 games this season due to a fractured nose suffered on Feb. 14 against West Virginia when he was hit in the face by a pitch in the ninth inning of Louisville's season-opening win over the Mountaineers. After missing the final two games of the opening weekend in Charleston, S.C., and the Feb. 19 game with Eastern Kentucky, Whiting returned to the field on Feb. 21 when he came off the bench to go 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the series-opening win over Western Michigan. After starting the final two games of the WMU series as well as the midweek win over Eastern Illinois on Feb. 25, Whiting missed all three games on Feb. 28-March 1 after having his nose reset on Feb. 26.
FOURTEEN CARDINALS MAKE LOUISVILLE DEBUT IN FIRST TWO WEEKS
A total of 14 first-year Cardinals have made their debuts this season. Most recently, freshmen Ryan Lauria and Mason Richardson saw their first action in the series with Western Michigan. Prior to that, freshmen Zack Burdi and Robert Strader made their debuts on the mound in the midweek win over Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 19. During the opening weekend in Charleston, a total of 10 first-year Cardinals saw their first game action. Transfer Grant Kay, redshirt freshman Jordan Striegel and freshmen Jake Sparger and Logan Taylor made their first appearances in the UofL uniform in the season-opener against WVU, while freshmen Will Smith and Corey Ray played in their first games on against The Citadel. In the Feb. 16 weekend finale, freshmen Drew Harrington, Colin Lyman, Nick Solak and Ryan Summers all saw action for the first time.
LUCAS NAMED AMERICAN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK TWICE
Zach Lucas has been selected as the American Conference Player of the Week two times this season earning the honor on March 17 and Feb. 24. During the week of March 11-15, he hit .500 (9-for-18) with two home runs, seven RBI, 10 runs scored, a .944 slugging percentage and a .625 on-base percentage while leading the Cardinals to a 5-0 week. His best game of the week came in Louisville's 20-10 series-opening win over Samford when he connected for a pair of home runs, five RBI and scored four times. During the week of Feb. 19-23, Lucas connected for a pair of three-run home runs, had eight RBI, hit .313 and had a .688 slugging percentage.
GARDNER NAMED AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior outfielder Jeff Gardner was chosen as the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 17 following his contributions at the season-opening Homewood Suites Tournament. Tabbed as the AAC Preseason Player of the Year by the league's head coaches, Gardner hit .417 (5-for-12) with a home run, two doubles, a triple and six RBI in three starts in left field during the event hosted by The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. Gardner's heroics included a 10th-inning walk-off solo home run in the 7-6 triumph over West Virginia and a three-run triple in the first inning of the 6-1 win over Delaware.
BURDI EARNS NUMEROUS FIRST TEAM PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Following an All-American season in 2013, junior righthander Nick Burdi enters 2014 with similar expectations nationally earning preseason All-America accolades from four different organizations. Burdi was named First Team Preseason All-America by Baseball America, Perfect Game, Collegiate Baseball newspaper and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. In 2013, Burdi was among the nation's best relievers earning 16 saves with a 0.76 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 29 relief appearances and 35.2 innings pitched as the Cardinals won a school record 51 games and advanced to the College World Series for the second time in school history. Among the nation's hardest throwers, he was named First Team All-America by Perfect Game and Second Team All-America by the NCBWA last season.
CARDINALS TABBED AS AMERICAN CONFERENCE FAVORITE; GARDNER CHOSEN AS PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Following its record-setting 2013 season, the Louisville baseball team will enter 2014 as the unanimous favorite to win the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship while Cardinals' senior outfielder Jeff Gardner was selected as the league's Preseason Player of the Year on Dec. 23.
Louisville, which won its fourth Big East regular season championship in five years and advanced to the College World Series for the second time in school history last season, received all eight possible first-place votes and 64 points overall in the preseason poll of the conference's head coaches announced on Monday by the league. The Cardinals were also tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Big East Conference last season before eventually winning the regular season title and a school record 51 games overall.
Following Louisville in the preseason poll was Houston, UCF and Connecticut in a three-way tie for second place with 47 points each. USF rounded out the top five with 34 points, while the final four spots in the preseason conference rundown were Memphis (30), Rutgers (27), Cincinnati (18) and Temple (8). Gardner headlined a group of six Cardinals, including junior righty pitcher Nick Burdi, sophomore righthanders Kyle Funkhouser and Anthony Kidston, senior outfielder Cole Sturgeon and junior infielder Sutton Whiting, earning preseason All-American Athletic Conference accolades.
CARDINALS' RADIO, WEB STREAMING DETAILS FOR 2014
For the sixth consecutive season, News/Talk 1570 AM (WNDA) will serve as the radio home for Louisville baseball with 47 regular-season games and all post-season games scheduled for broadcast by the Clarksville, Ind., station. With Sean Moth back calling the action, the radio schedule includes all 36 home games, three games each at American Athletic Conference foes Houston and UCF, midweek games at Indiana, Western Kentucky, Kentucky, Purdue and Vanderbilt and all of the Cardinals' American Athletic Conference Championship and NCAA Championship games.
Louisville once again has a strong presence on the internet as subscribers can follow every game of the 2014 baseball season through CardsTV at GoCards.com. Live streaming audio will be available for every regular-season and post-season game, while streaming video will be available for all 36 home games. Fans can also access the CardsTV video and audio streams for every UofL game while on the go at GoCards.com mobile app.
MCDONNELL'S ALL-AMERICANS
In Dan McDonnell's first seven seasons as head coach, the Louisville baseball program produced 15 All-Americans, more than three times as many as what the program had prior to McDonnell's arrival. Below is the list of All-America honorees since Dan McDonnell was introduced prior to 2007.
2013
- Nick Burdi (Perfect Game First Team, NCBWA Second Team)
- Jeff Thompson (Louisville Slugger Second Team, Perfect Game Third Team, NCBWA Third Team)
2012
- Justin Amlung (Louisville Slugger Third Team)
2010
- Neil Holland (NCBWA First Team, Baseball America Third Team, Louisville Slugger Third Team)
- Thomas Royse (Louisville Slugger Third Team)
- Ryan Wright (Baseball America Second Team)
- Phil Wunderlich (Baseball America Third Team, Louisville Slugger Third Team)
2009
- Chris Dominguez (Baseball America First Team, Louisville Slugger First Team, Ping! Baseball First Team, ABCA Third Team)
- Justin Marks (Louisville Slugger Second Team, Ping! Baseball Second Team, Baseball America Third Team, ABCA Third Team)
- Phil Wunderlich (NCBWA Second Team)
2008
- Chris Dominguez (NCBWA Third Team, Louisville Slugger Third Team, Baseball America Third Team, PING! Baseball Third Team)
- Justin Marks (PING! Baseball Second Team)
- Justin McClanahan (PING! Baseball Third Team)
2007
- Logan Johnson (Louisville Slugger Third Team)
- Boomer Whiting (Louisville Slugger Third Team, Baseball America Third Team)
FOLLOWING THE CARDINALS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow Louisville baseball on Twitter (@UofLBaseball) at http://twitter.com/uoflbaseball and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ulbaseball.

































